5 Years Later

"People keep asking us for our store designs," says Bill Lia, the 78-year-old CEO of Lia Auto Group in Albany, N.Y., which just finished building its 19th dealership. "We want to keep everything modern and up to date."

Long hours and hard work in the past few years turned Mike Wood from a dealership manager into a dealer with four stores. The market has been loaded with acquisition opportunities, he says, provided the buyer is willing to put in the sweat and hustle.

In the five years that have passed since the economic crash of 2009, the auto retailing sector has emerged from the ashes. The transition has been painful. There are fewer car dealers in 2014. Many have been pressed by automakers to invest in new stores. But what was a bitter industry shakeout for some in 2009 has led to better times in auto retailing in 2014 for others.

The Car Allowance Rebate System, also known as cash for clunkers, was a lifeline at a desperate time for the U.S. auto industry. Nearly 700,000 vehicles were traded in through the nearly $3 billion program, which provided consumers as much as $4,500 each to trade in an old gas guzzler for a more fuel efficient new model.

Five years ago this week, General Motors Corp. -- long a symbol of America's industrial might -- sought bankruptcy protection. Work on what would become the bankruptcy road map began within GM before outgoing President George W. Bush kept the automaker alive with a first round of U.S. rescue loans, contends Jay Alix, founder of AlixPartners, a corporate turnaround specialist with long ties to GM.

For nearly 17 years Richard Wagoner was either in command and control at GM or else part of a tiny klatch of executives running the company. Not since Alfred Sloan had one executive held so much power for so long at GM.

Rick Wagoner's forced departure from General Motors five years ago this week took some getting used to. He had been at or near the pinnacle of power at GM for 17 years. For eight years he was the company's CEO. Then, suddenly, it was over.